Shion no Ou

Superpowered lesbians play Mahjong. For the third time. It’s probably not any worse than the first season, which I thought was okay. But I’m sick of it now. It’s been five years since I watched the original, and I no longer see the point. It’s just devolved to new character...

Series

It’s been nearly three years since I updated my list of favorite anime. I figure it’s about time. A few notes:This list is only for TV anime, not movies or OVAs. In case I never get around to writing posts on those (a highly likely scenario) my favorite movies are Whisper of the Heart...

For better or for worse, 2013 is finally over, and I’m sure you know what that means. Google has released the top ten trending anime for 2013 from the Japanese version of its search engine. Now, for your reading pleasure, I present the 2013 top trending anime for Google Japan. Top Ten Trending...

The Flowers of Evil was a series that seemed to either be on peoples best anime of 2013 list or something you acknowledged existed but had a strong reason it was absent. Quite a few people just could not watch because they hated the look of the rotoscoping. In their defense it is rotoscoping. It is...

I wasn’t writing (yet) for OASG when I came across Flowers of Evil this spring. There are usually one or two shows every season that are so captivating that I can’t wait to acquire the newest episode and watch it as soon as possible. This spring there were two: besides this little gem, the...

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Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai! Short Synopsis: Our lead character “wrestles” in public. What can I say? This show is just outright porn. Karuta gets Chihayafuru, Go gets Hikaru no Go, Football gets Giant Killing, Shougi gets Shion no OU. And then wresling gets to do with this vapid...

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There always has to be that show every few years, doesn’t there? You know, that show. The one that somehow manages to gain the ire of nearly everyone in existence even though there are other, much more terrible shows that deserve that hatred? Yep, it’s time to talk about Flowers of Evil....

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(I know Shinmaru blogged the whole show, but I want my say on this thing) I appreciate anime trying something a little different when it’s appropriate. Flowers of Evil is a pretty good example of the kind of manga you should be doing this with. A teenage boy idolises a pretty girl in his class...

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A group of friends plays Karuta together. The best way I can think of to describe Chihayafuru is as a combination of a sports show, a show focusing on school life, and a shoujo romance. It’s the combination that makes Chihayafuru so engaging. We get the characterizations of a romance combined...

Series

Darkness lurks everywhere, in every human heart, and sometimes it takes just a second of weakness for it to take root. For Kasuga Takao, that germination begins when his obsession with his beautiful classmate Nanako meets the opportunity to borrow her used gym clothes. Unfortunately, his loathsome act...

Recap: Kasuga tries to apologize to Nakamura, but she refuses to talk to him. As a last resort, he pays a visit to her house. The Flowers of Evil has always skirted the line between a morose, atmospherical use of slow pacing and straight-up padding, but in the first half of this episode, I do []

Series

I hope many of you stood alongside me shouting as if we were watching a janky horror movie at a deserted theater at like 3 a.m. NO DON’T GO IN THERE KASUGA WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! The power of silence and the looming threat of a sure-to-be angry Nakamura coming...

Series

An easy way to win me over: make your backgrounds look like impressionist hell. It’s really not difficult to please me visually at all. The end result of that ride to the police station is a bit curious to me. I’m surprised the rumors didn’t spread like wildfire afterward. Surely...